JTA to open No Frills Brooklyn Skyway Station

[marcuscnelson]

^ First of all, welcome!

Seeing as U2C still happening is somewhat in question, I don't know how much there is to argue with in regards to that. But I would be surprised if there were no fares, seeing as it seems pretty well intended for app payment akin to Uber or Lyft.

[thelakelander]

^With BRT running down Park, running the U2C to Riverside and Five Points makes little sense. Add a BRT station in Brooklyn (with the JRTC being the transfer point to the Skyway) and call it a day.

The BRT and Skyway seem to be serving different purposes though. The Flyer BRT is medium- to long-distance commuters, while the Skyway (like Lymmo in Orlando or Metromover in Miami) is an urban circulator. The BRT stops in Brooklyn are more likely to be used by people working in Brooklyn than anyone living there (unless they do a reverse commute).

The systems aren't mutually exclusive. There's some cross pollination needed for all of them to be successful. For example, Metromover in Miami is fed riders by Metrorail. There are some stops on the fringe of downtown Miami that are served by Metrorail (ex. like Overtown) that aren't served by Metromover. The location of Brooklyn to the Northbank is very similar to Overtown's location to Miami's historic CBD. With BRT running down Park Street in Brooklyn every 10 to 15 minutes and also connecting into the Skyway at the JRTC, one could argue that it would be a waste of millions to extend the U2C along the same corridor. Strategically locate a BRT stop on Park, close to Forest Street (so that the Southside of Brooklyn is accessible to the transit network) and use the millions saved to connect the Skyway/U2C into an area of the urban core that is not adequately served. Oh and no, the U2C won't be free.

[WAJAS]

I decided to do some research to further inform my position, and wow, the Skyway is in a worse state than I thought. In 2018, it cost 12 USD per rider, which is 5.54/12.1 times the cost per rider of Lymmo/Metromover. Sadly, there is not any more recent data, but it wouldn't be good anyways b/c COVID affected the 2019/2020 fiscal year. I expect the Flyer routes increased ridership somewhat after 2018, and that the closure of the Jefferson and Convention Center station during all of 2018 decreased ridership. I'd assume the actual Skyway cost per rider is about 8.6 based on an annual ridership of 1.2 million. That's 3.87/8.47 times the cost per rider of Lymmo/Metromover. Honestly, the system has actually been in an upwards direction in the past decade.

Back on topic, the Brooklyn station would need at least 66 daily riders to match the rest of the line, which is a 100% achievable target IMO (assuming no Weekend service). That's only 33 two-way trips. If it has any more than 66 daily riders, it will decrease the cost per rider of the total system, which I assume will be a given based on the number of residential units and restaurants within 1/4 mile.

I wish JTA had more detailed ridership numbers and technical data in general. Station by station ingress/egress would be appreciated.

[thelakelander]

Orlando and Miami have done a great job of building up and densifying their downtowns since 2000, which benefit the Lymmo/Metromover. In Jax, unfortunately, we've done the exact opposite, finding a way to largely miss out on the two major urban economic boom periods of the first two decades of the 20th century. The Skyway suffers greatly as a result. A comparison of these three urban circulator systems really highlights the importance of supportive land use policy and strategy.